Riverside City Council voted Tuesday to lease 1.3 acres of surplus city property at 670 Iowa Ave. to a local energy company for the next decade, clearing the way for a hydrogen production and fueling station, electric-vehicle chargers, and infrastructure meant to support hydrogen-powered public transit. The tenant, SPT Energy Base Hub, plans to turn the irregularly shaped parcel into a hub for the city’s growing zero-emission ambitions.
The council approved the 10-year lease on Oct. 20, according to The Press-Enterprise, with an option to extend another five years. City staff described the Iowa Avenue site as surplus and irregularly shaped in the report presented to council. Under the deal, the lease won’t actually take effect until a year after building permits are issued, or 15 months after the agreement’s effective date, whichever comes first, per the city report cited in that coverage.
Money is where the numbers get murky. The Press-Enterprise reported the lease costs $11,361.60 per month, but also cited city estimates putting Riverside’s annual take at $136,000 — figures that don’t quite square with each other, and the discrepancy hasn’t been resolved in the public reporting so far.
Who Is SPT Energy Base Hub
SPT Energy Base Hub is headquartered just down the road at 2990 Myers St. in Riverside, and the company’s stated focus spans solar energy, energy storage, electric-grid technology and hydrogen fleet infrastructure, the same report notes. Its plans for the Iowa Avenue site include not just a fueling station but EV chargers and hydrogen production capacity, with an eye toward supporting hydrogen-powered public transit down the line…